How To Choose The Best WordPress Theme For E-commerce

September 29, 2017

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3 minute read

In order to increase revenue, your business will need more customers and the best way of reaching new people is by utilizing the internet. Building and setting up new site can be overwhelming, but luckily, you have WordPress, and one of its themes will most certainly meet your needs. You just need to choose the right theme for your online shop and this can be challenging as well. The text below will give you some guidelines you should follow while searching for perfect WP theme for eCommerce.

Freemium vs premium

Setting up a free eCommerce theme can help you to cut some expenses in the beginning, but don’t install it just yet. Keep in mind that this theme will be the face of your online store, and people will relate to it. In addition, you will need to be sure if the chosen free theme has all functionalities you need.

Besides that, it should be well-built and well-designed. Unfortunately, free themes don’t offer the support you need if they crash. Premium themes, on the other hand, are much better when it comes to support, so all fixes will be quick. Before you pick your theme, make sure to get well informed, read some reviews and ask around.

The truth about sliders

If you ever visited an online shop, there is a pretty good chance you saw sliders there. This element is very common on eCommerce websites, but that doesn’t mean your customers will appreciate it. Before going for sliders, make sure your target audience will find them helpful. Otherwise, you can really harm your online shop.

People easily abandon online shops and one of the main reasons are sliders. Let’s say your potential buyer saw something cool and wanted to click on it, but slider decided to switch page in that moment. Your customer will get frustrated and there’s a great chance they won’t be back.

Choose the homepage wisely

As mentioned before, your website will be the face of your business, and this especially goes for the homepage. While a lot of site visitors will land on the specific product page, plenty of first-timers will find themselves at the homepage.

The message should be clear, and people should immediately know what are you selling. In addition, you should decide how many products you’ll show on the homepage and which ones will be shown first. You may find this step challenging since it is hard to tell how will customize homepage look before you buy it and set it up. Because of that, you should be very cautious when purchasing your eCommerce theme.

The theme and plugins should work together

Keep in mind that most themes come without pre-built eCommerce plugins such as WooCommerce. Unfortunately, not all themes will work with this plugin, and in order to fix it, you’ll need to add some code. If this is too hard for you, and if you don’t feel comfortable to go through editing code, keep in mind that developers from Nirmal Ecommerce web design strongly recommend you seek an advice from a professional.

Keep your mind on responsiveness

Latest changes in Google’s artificial intelligence algorithm made clear that mobile users are now a number one priority. Search engines started to recognize mobile devices as a separate entity and everything posted online should be fully visible on small screens. Your best move is to pick a theme that is mobile responsive, and compatible with eCommerce plugin of your choice. You shouldn’t spend money on creating an application, just make sure your website is responsive. Keep in mind that some new plugins will be launched soon and they will make your online store more mobile-friendly.

Final thoughts

These tips are just a beginning and you should give your best to learn much more when it comes to online sales. Besides the responsive website, you’ll also need a good SEO since that is the best way to be seen. At the end, your budget should be ready for some advertising via social media campaigns. By running one of those, more people will see your website and your traffic will increase.